Monday, May 25, 2009

Ragnar Relay Recap (one month late)

Matt, my brother, getting the slap bracelet from Tiffany. I think that Matt had the most beautiful relay legs of the entire course. This one was along the CA coast the entire time. Yes, that is the everyday traffic of the PCH going on beside them. He's a good racing buddy, it was fun to spend time with him.
Dave was the main driver of our "blue van group." And he was the van DJ, hilarious. Especially when he starts playing Erasure and he and Tiffany rock out in the front seat like I did when I was 14. Yes, I was the oldest runner on the team. Brother Kent, tall guy in red, was team captain -- Never Nudes. If you have never seen Arrested Development you will not get it, even if I try to explain it to you. Kyle, the girl in the red sweatshirt, was our team ringer. She's this amazing little runner! She ran all her relay legs at about 7 minute miles, really racing. During her 1st leg she passed this guy who tried to keep up with her but then gave up and watched he leave him in the dust. When he passed us, her cheering, water-bearing teammates, he asked, "why is she so fast?" It was classic. She ran at BYUI on their cross country intermurals team, which is a very competitive group. She also timed all our legs for us and would give us our times at the end, whether you wanted them or not. I was pleasantly surprised each time she gave me my splits.
It has been one month since I ran this crazy relay. It was really fun and worth all the preparation time and effort. The day before the race the officials had to change the course, politics in Malibu, so I only had to run 15 miles total instead of 17. For you CCCP who read this, if there are any, my third leg went along the trail across from Woodbridge high school so I actually ran along the same cross country course that I did once upon a time when I was a teen.

I highly recommend the Ragnar, or other 24-hour relay, to everyone! They are so much fun, even though you have to run at crazy hours, which is taxing. Karl, another team member in the blue van, was determined that running all the miles at one time would be easier than running them seperately, in relay form. He may be right but it wouldn't be as much fun. My favorite leg of the relay was the one I ran at 4:30am, I ran next to a train yard, a huge LAPD office -- the LAPD letters were 2 stories tall -- and the official Ragnar van drove by me, PA system in full force and said to me, "beautiful stride." Well, thank you!

But now that it is over, I'm so glad I don't have to think about running anymore. During the month leading up to the relay it consumed so much of my thoughts, the preparation. I was always thinking about when I was going to run again, what route I needed to take, how long I needed to go, when to run if I didn't get up in time to go in the morning. Now, I can go or not, or I can just go to the gym and read while doing the eliptical trainer. And while it is amazing to be in great running shape, I'm just glad to take a breather from it for a while. I don't even think I'm going to run the Seafair race in July. I was registering for the race on the day registration was only $6 and right near the end of the process, Sommer pushed the on/off button on the computer and I lost all my information. And of course then I went on with the day and forgot to register again to get the deal. And this past week, when every night I was up 4 different times, not all with the same child, it was so nice not to worry that I wasn't getting a run in. Yes, sometimes it is nice to sit still.

7 comments:

Lark said...

Congrats on running a great race! So fun that you guys all did that together. And I'm really not envious that I wasn't running with you guys. Really. I'm so happy to be the cheerleader. Hopefully next time I can come cheer you on :)

mindy said...

Sounds like you all had a fun time. I have a few more weeks until I run it here so reading your post got me excited for the big day(s).
I am sorry to hear that you won't be running the Torchlight. We also missed the $6 registration, by 15 minutes no less. Ugh! I think we will still try and run it though. Who knows how much longer the ol' viaduct will be there.
Congratulations on your Ragnar! Hopefully we can do one together someday.

Shannon said...

Paige, you are just so inspiring. I know that I am older than you, but really, I want to be you when I grow up. :)

Torrie said...

Yes indeed, inspiring is the right word for you.
You amaze me. I wish I wanted to run-anywhere...:)

kelly said...

still inspiring me paige!

Alexis said...

You make me nervous for the Ragnar in July- I don't like being tired! You look great and your famiy looks great. I hope we have some fun, too.

Kelsey K. Hartley said...

I'm not a great runner. And the longest distance I've completed is 7 miles; that was my longest leg in the Ragnar Relay: Wasatch Back. I'm not at all competitive but I crave the challenge the Ragnar Relay presents. I didn't know RR had a series in California. I'm sure it was gorgeous! The one in Washington sounds beautiful too.